Lacy Barger Johnson, a Greenwood native, has been creating art ever since she was old enough to hold a crayon. Her mother, also an artist, and father let her turn a small room under the stairs into her first art studio. They allowed her to draw on the walls in the studio and it was every kid’s dream come true. She says: As a child my dad would take me with him for work around rural Mississippi and at the end of the day we would share an RC Cola and a moon pie.

Mississippi is home and it is in my blood. I am inspired by the delta landscape, the rich culture, and the wonderful people. I hope that my paintings will bring light and hope to those who view them. My goal is that one would feel inspired and encouraged.

Ellen Langford is a southern artist, native to Mississippi. As mother of a young boy, and owner of chickens and dogs, she often incorporates children and animals into her compositions, finding tenderness and vulnerability in their movements, as well as joy and adventure. Her process involves layers of paint, often sanded away and then glazed over, searching for shape and pattern, color and texture, to build the story worlds her figures inhabit.